Best Friend's Ex Box Set

“It’s nothing,” he replied as he stepped into the hall and looked up and down for signs of an intruder. When he found nothing, he shrugged and stepped back in the room. As he did, I saw something on the floor flutter under his feet.

“Hey, there’s something on the ground,” I called.

“What the hell?” he said as he bent and picked up a large white envelope that had my name typed on the front, but no address. After he’d shut and locked the door, then double-checked to make sure it was secure, Brian brought the envelope to me and sat down on the edge of the bed. “You don’t have to open that, you know?”

“Yes, I do,” I replied.

“We can call the police and hand it over to them and let them work on this,” he reminded me.

“No, we can’t,” I reminded him. “If we do that, then they’ll leak the details to the press, and my father will be really pissed about the scandal and you’ll be fired.”

“Would that be so bad?” he asked.

“You have no idea what my father is capable of,” I replied. “He would shift the blame to you and ruin your career.”

“What career?” Brian laughed. “I’m a glorified security guard, it’s not like I’ve got a future in high level espionage or something.”

“Just don’t,” I said quietly. Brian stopped laughing and watched as I slid my finger under the flap and opened the envelope. I shook as I reached in and grasped the edge of the paper inside, and as tears welled up in my eyes, Brian reached over and took the envelope out of my hands.

“Here, let me do that,” he offered. He quickly pulled out the sheet inside and read it. I couldn’t see what it said, but I could see that the entire thing was written in red ink that had bled through the page. The writer had pressed hard as they’d composed their message, and there were places on the paper that looked like they’d almost been torn. In those spots the ink had formed an ominously crimson pool. I shivered as I watched Brian read the note again.

“What does it say?” I asked. When he didn’t respond, I asked again. “What does it say?”

Brian shook his head and started to fold the note and put it back in the envelope.

“Brian, what does the note say?” I was starting to feel panicked. I reached out and grabbed the note from his hand and read it.

My Dearest Ava,

For the longest time I loved you and tried to provide the best possible life for you – for us. I gave you everything a woman could possibly want, and I showered you with love and affection that many women would die for, but you rejected all of that for some unknown reason. I don’t know what I did to drive you away aside from loving you with every fiber of my being.

Now I see that you have quickly replaced me with some substandard replica of what you think a man is. Does he love you the way I loved you? Does he cherish you and treat you like the jewel you are? Does he give you the life that I gave you?

No, how could he? He is an imposter. Someone who does not know the demands of the kind of world we inhabit. He is a foreigner. An outsider. He can never give you the things that I could give you, and he will never win the approval of your demanding family. The best he can do is to act as a shield and attempt to protect you from the only man who has ever loved you.

Why won’t you come back, Ava, my love? Why can’t you see how much I adore you? How much I worship you? Why can’t you accept that we are meant to be together and that no matter what stands in the way, I will never, ever give up on doing everything in my power to ensure that you are returned to me?

You belong to me, Ava. You are mine.

Please stop fighting what I know you know is the right thing. We are meant to be together. We are meant to shape a life that will be full and beautiful together. I want to marry you and raise a family with you.

Only with you, Ava.

Why are you being so stubborn and refusing to see that we are ordained by God to be together? Come back to me, Ava. Come back and I will fulfill you beyond your wildest dreams. I will give you the moon and the stars. I will move heaven and earth to ensure that you are happy. All the riches of the world will be at your disposal and I will make sure that no one ever disturbs you or makes you unhappy.

Only I can do that for you, Ava. You know this to be true. I’m the one who loves you more than anyone else.

Please come back to me, Ava. I need you. I need you to be with me.

If you can’t come back to me, I promise that I will come and find you, Ava. I will come for you and rescue you from the clutches of those who would silence you and keep you from me.

And I am telling you now that if that Neanderthal has in any way hurt you, I will do more than simply rescue you. If he has hurt you, I will end him.

Wh

y won’t you come back to me, Ava? Why are you staying with him? Why don’t you choose me?

I am warning you, Ava. If you don’t return to me, I will find you. I will hunt you down and I will reclaim you as my own. And if you won’t come with me and be mine, as you should be, the consequences will be dire.